Deputy District Attorney turned acupuncturist:
“Our Lifestyle and Medical System Must Change”

From time to time people do change their lives in
extraordinary ways. Take the case of Los Angeles Deputy District
Attorney Dana Garcetti Boldt, who one day decided to pursue her lifelong
interest in medicine by becoming an acupuncturist.

For many years she received positive feedback from her law colleagues
for her lunchtime yoga sessions. After she became pregnant, she decided
it was time for a long-anticipated career change. She enrolled at the
Emperor’s College of Traditional Oriental Medicine in Santa Monica,
California and graduated with honors after three years.

A Skill Set Lawyers and Acupuncturists Share
“The primary skill set I see in common between criminal law and
acupuncture is that of interviewing, listening and probing,” says
Garcetti Boldt. “Just as in witness interviews regarding a crime,
patient interviews require tact but inquisitiveness and careful
listening. A blink, a hesitation, a change in demeanor or body language
can often reveal a deeper issue that someone is not willing to reveal or
reveal reluctantly. Establishing trust is key in effective prosecutions.
It is equally important for effective treatment in an acupuncture
setting.”

Research shows that lawyers suffer crushing stress on the job. Garcetti
Boldt says acupuncture can offer relief: “If I had advice to give a
lawyer who was seeking to relieve stress by using acupuncture, I would
say to think of it as necessary as your daily run or bi-weekly trip to
the gym. Acupuncture is preventative medicine.”

The Importance of Meditation
When I mentioned my research on the growing number of American lawyers
using meditation to battle stress in their jobs, Garcetti Boldt said, “I
can tell you that none of the D.A.s I knew meditated.” Her own practice
of meditation has served her well though. “Meditation has allowed me to
maintain better equanimity, both personally and professionally. I have
practiced yoga for thirteen years. The moving meditation that yoga
entails permitted me to be a little more unflappable and a lot more
centered and pleasant both in the courtroom and in my private life.”

Clients’ Low Compliance is a Major Problem
Garcetti Boldt has tried very hard to teach meditation skills to her
patients. But she says “compliance has been low.” This is disappointing
because she wants the best for her patients. “I am constantly amazed at
how non-compliant people are. They come in, often with chronic
conditions, claiming to want help, but really they want a quick fix.
They abdicate their responsibility for their own health, and then get
angry when their health doesn’t change.”

“However, when I ask them if they took the herbs in the dosages I
recommended, they make lists of excuses as to why they did not. When I
ask them if they performed their stretches or Chi Kung exercises, they
shamefacedly admit that they couldn’t find the time or simply forgot. It
makes me want to shrug and say, okay should I just schedule you for once
a week treatments for the rest of your life?”

She says her patients’ lack of compliance is no different from what
allopathic physicians experience with their patients. RX drug compliance
is often reported at less than 50%.

A Change of Lifestyle is Needed
“We in North America do not know how to live in harmony with nature,”
Garcetti Boldt says. “We water our lawns in a drought, we take birth
control pills because it is convenient, rather than cycle with the moon,
we stay up late and get up late, we eat in our cars, we watch television
while we eat, we turn on bright lights when it is dark out, and we
wonder why we are tired all the time.”

I asked her how Chinese medicine principles could be used to balance a
Western lifestyle. “The principles of Chinese medicine are applicable to
any culture. Our bodies are a microcosm of the environment and the state
of the environment reflects our state of health (and vice versa). Treat
yourself and the environment well and you and the environment will stay
healthy.”

A New Hybrid Medical System is Needed
“A new hybrid system of allopathic and Chinese medicine should be
considered,” Garcetti Boldt says. “Western physicians are so specialized
that they fail to look at the whole person. HMOs require such brief
patient-physician interaction, that there is no way that an allopathic
doctor can treat anyone holistically. However, in order to maintain
health, physicians need to remember to see both the forest and the
trees. Unfortunately most allopathic physicians in California have the
perception that acupuncturists do not have adequate training for the
job. Doctors therefore are reluctant to work with Chinese medicine
practitioners.

“Change will only come about through education for both the general
public and for allopathic physicians,” Garcetti Boldt says. “It is clear
that much of our mission as Chinese medicine practitioners is to educate
allopathic physicians about the value of what we do. We must show them
that Chinese medicine does not pose a threat to Western medicine. We
just offer a healthy bonus.”

Craig Cormack, B.A., R.M.T., is a Chi Kung
master, senior Tai Chi instructor and registered Chinese massotherapist
based in Montreal, Canada. He is a consultant at the McGill University
Sports Medicine Clinic and President of l’Association de massage chinois
Tuina du Québec. www.risingtao.ca